Space Angel

"Space Angel" was an animated science fiction television series produced in the United States from early 1962 through 1964. It used the same Synchro-Vox lip technique as "Clutch Cargo", the first cartoon produced by the same studio, Cambria Productions.

The series chronicled the adventures of three astronauts who worked for the Earth Bureau of Investigation's Interplanetary Space Force on board the spaceship "Starduster": Captain/Pilot Scott McCloud, also known as "The Space Angel" (voiced by Ned Lefebver), Electronics/Communications expert Crystal Mace (voiced by Margaret Kerry), and Gunner/Engineer Taurus (voiced by Hal Smith).

Apart from the use of Synchro-Vox, animation was very limited, but the static panel art by legend Alex Toth was often well-drawn. Story lines were serialized over five episodes which ran five minutes each, the idea being that stations could show one episode per weekday, with the climax coming on Friday. Cliffhangers were sometimes used, as in an episode with McCloud finding a derelict spacecraft beyond the light barrier, looking inside and exclaiming "Oh my God!" Another memorable sequence occurred with the heroes in a best two-of-three gladiator battle, using future visions of Roman combat.

There were several episodes involving space combat between the Interplanetary Space Force and various enemies. After The Space Angel and his crew had discovered the villians plans or forces, he would call in reenforcements made up of one or more squadrons of the ISF. Squadrons were organized by planetary patrol areas such as the Venusian Squdron, Mars Squadron etc. It is interesting to note that the identifying squadron symbols on the ISF ships were the ones used in then current astronomy charts to identify the planets, such as the Female symbol for the Venusian Squadron, the Male symbol for the Mars Squadron and a circle with an enclosed plus sign for the Earth Squadron.

The main antagonist in the show or opposing Stellar Power were the Athenians, who were a combination of Rome and Sparta. We see their home planet in the episode involving the Gladitorial Games. The city looks like Rome with a collesseum. The civilians are dressed in Togas and the soldiers are wearing a combination of Greek/Roman armor with Corinthian style helments and armed with Blaster Rifles.

Another antagonist is the Evil Queen of Space and her Henchman "The General". Pre-dating the Star Trek episode "Balance of Terror" their claim to fame is an invisable spaceship they use to disrupt interstellar trade.

pace Angel in other media

Alex Toth drew "Space Angel" six page story for children's magazine Jack & Jill in 1963 to promote "Space Angel" cartoon. VCI Entertainment has announced a July 29, 2008 DVD release which will contain nine episodes of "Space Angel". [cite web |last=Lambert|first=David|url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Space-Angel-Collection-4/9879|title=VCI's Space Angel - Collection 1: Box Art, Details and Extras; Available in your galaxy on July 29th|accessdate=2008-06-19|publisher=TVShowsOnDVD.com|language=English]

References

External links

* [http://www.toontracker.com/spaceangel/spaceang.htm Space Angel at Toon Tracker]
* [http://www.toonopedia.com/spangel.htm Space Angel at Toonopedia]
* [http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/1548/spaceangel.html Space Angel at Cartoon-O-Rama]
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